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Gates tells Manafort trial he assisted in filing false tax returns

Later, when Yanukovych fell out of power and fled to Russian Federation, the business struggled and prosecutors say Manafort lied to banks to obtain loans to help maintain his life of luxury.

Gates admitted that at Manafort's behest, they later created a loan agreement for Lyovochkin's payment, though no loan existed.

Prosecutors are hoping that testimony from Gates, who has firsthand knowledge of Manafort's actions, will convince a jury of Manafort's guilt.

Gates, 46, testified on Monday that he helped falsify Manafort's tax returns and hide his foreign bank accounts used to receive income from wealthy pro-Russia Ukrainian businessmen.

This combination of pictures shows former Trump campaign official Rick Gates leaves Federal Court in Washington, DC. on December 11, 2017 and Paul Manafort arrives for a hearing at US District Court in Washington, DC. on June 15, 2018. But while Laporta acknowledged that she regularly communicated with Gates, she said she believed Manafort was in the know. They have several times tried to impugn his credibility before the jury.

Manafort's defense team aimed to discredit Gates as a liar and an embezzler who falsified Manafort's finances while trying to cover up his own crimes.

Manafort and Gates were the first two people indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential ties between Russian Federation and the Trump campaign. His case is the first to go to trial arising from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

Testimony from Mr Manafort's tax preparer continued on Monday. One accounting trick saved Manafort $500,000 in taxes, she said.

Gates first worked for Manafort's political consulting firm as an intern out of college.

Andres has become frustrated a couple of times during the trial, but according to Judge Ellis, he was not only frustrated-he was crying in the courtroom. Gates was Manafort's partner in the consultancy.

What's Gates telling the court?

Gates was clean-shaven, unlike his February 23 court appearance, when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements.

Prosecutors say Manafort did lucrative political consulting work in Ukraine, and then kept much of the money he made in offshore accounts and companies.

Speaking at a rapid clip, Gates told jurors he stole from Manafort even as he told lies to bookkeepers and accountants so that his boss could hide most of his offshore earnings, estimated by prosecutors as more than $60 million from 2010 to 2014.

"When income came into the company, Mr. Manafort directed whether it would be treated as income.or loans", Gates said.

In addition to those crimes, Gates also revealed other criminal conduct. They also are likely to bring up his making false statements to investigators.

Though Manafort did serve as then-candidate Trump's Campaign Chairman for three months in 2016, the financial crimes with which he is charged in this case are unrelated to his relationship with the President. He is awaiting sentencing, and he told jurors Monday that in exchange for his truthful testimony prosecutors agreed not to oppose his attorney's request for probation at a later date.